England agony as they hammer France but miss out on Six Nations

Rugby union has probably never had a day like this, with three successive magnificent matches, and Twickenham has probably never seen a game quite like this.

It defied all logic. It was mesmerising, it was compelling, it was mad and it was exhausting just to watch. But the upshot was that England, despite scoring a remarkable seven tries, did not acquire a large enough points difference to overhaul Ireland at the top of the Six Nations table.

It will have been of little consolation that their 20-point advantage over France put them ahead of Wales in second place, the fourth time in four years they have finished there.

Coming up short: England narrowly missed out on the Six Nations title. Photo: Getty Images

But they should feel no regret. They gave it everything in a display that was quite spellbinding in its ambition, even if it was also chaotic at times.

And at last France came to play. This was by a considerable distance their best performance of the tournament - their best for some time. They played with ambition and verve. They added hugely to the spectacle, and scored five tries of their own.

England's task was to win by 26 points in order to equal Ireland's points difference of plus-63, with their try tally - the next point of differentiation - already superior. It had seemed Wales might be in pole position after their stunning second-half performance in Rome had brought a 61-20 victory and a points difference of plus-53, but Scotland's defence was almost as leaky as Italy's and Ireland duly won 40-10.

Not enough: Jack Nowell scores a try for England. Photo: Reuters

The last time England had beaten France by such a margin was in a World Cup warm-up match in 2003 when they won by 31; the last time in a Six Nations match was in 2001 when they won at Twickenham by 29. It was a big ask, but one made much easier when England scored in the second minute of the match. A French scrummage was disrupted and fly-half Jules Plisson threw a wild pass that Jonathan Joseph collected in midfield. The space was vast and Joseph duly found Mike Brown on the outside. George Ford was in support and found his scrum-half Ben Youngs inside for a sensational score. Ford converted.

However, he soon missed a long-range penalty, and then was penalised for hanging on in contact, after which Plisson kicked France's first points. They were followed by five points for a try as France took advantage of woeful English sloppiness.

Ruck ball in France's half was slow and then untidy so that Youngs panicked and tried to find Courtney Lawes, England's only player on the right-hand side of the field. The ball went loose and scrum-half Sebastien Tillous-Borde picked up and unsurprisingly outpaced Dan Cole to score. France led 8-7.

England forwards coach Graham Rowntree consoles Billy Vunipola. Photo: Getty Images

It became 15-7 after Noa Nakaitaci scored a controversial try resulting from James Haskell turning the ball over in the tackle. It should have been a simple score but in his desire to get around under the posts the winger almost butchered the chance as Youngs made a despairing tackle.

Was his foot out of play before he touched the ball down? Did he indeed have control of the ball as he touched down? Those were the two key questions. Both were highly debatable. But both came back in France's favour. Plisson converted. It was 15-7.

Nakaitaci should have scored again and Plisson should have kicked another penalty, but they did not. And Lawes could have been sent to the sin-bin for a tackle on Plisson, but he was not.

Ford kicked a penalty and then England scored a wonderful try from Anthony Watson. Cole made the stunning turnover, Youngs broke and found Ford. The ball went loose but not forward from an English hand, going from Joseph to Haskell to Watson. Ford converted. England led 17-15.

It was then 24-15 when Youngs scored again, thanks to a wondrous break by Joseph and a penalty. Brown tapped and Youngs sniped. Ford converted and then added a penalty on the stroke of the break. It was 27-15 after an extraordinary, breathless half.

England needed a good start to the second half but Ford kicked straight out and France capitalised, scoring a superb try from Guilhem Guirado's back-of-the-hand pass to Maxime Mermoz. Plisson converted.

Back came England as the astoundingly good Youngs made a break to put Ford under the posts. Ford converted. England were ahead by 12 again.

Rory Kockott kicked a penalty but Jack Nowell then scored England's fifth try, showing good footwork, after Scott Spedding had been sliced down by Lawes under his posts. Ford converted. It was 41-25. England were 16 ahead.

But then Haskell was given a yellow card for a silly trip on Plisson. And England paid as Nakaitaci escaped down the left and fed Vincent Debaty to score. Some try from a prop.

England made changes, with Danny Cipriani replacing Watson and Brown moving to the wing, and although Tom Youngs lost his first line-out, Billy Vunipola barged over and Ford converted. England were 18 ahead.

Guess what? France scored again as Benjamin Kayser went over from a driving line-out. But England were not done. Nowell scored his second from a pass from Ford and Ford converted. England were 20 ahead with just under five minutes remaining.

England had a line-out on France's line but could not score, and even when awarded a penalty France crazily tried to run it at first. Eventually they cleared and a quite astounding match was over.

ENGLAND 55 (Ben Youngs 2, Anthony Watson, George Ford, Jack Nowell 2, Mako Vunipola tries; Ford 7 cons, 2 pens) def FRANCE 35 (Sebastien Tillous-Borde, Noa Nakaitaci, Maxime Mermoz, Vincent Debaty, Benjamin Kayser; Jules Plisson 2 cons; Plisson, Rory Kockott pens)

The Telegraph, London